thriving
Americanadjective
-
prospering or doing well; highly successful.
The Arts Commission plans to expand its thriving ArtSmart program into all 21 of the city’s elementary schools.
-
growing or developing vigorously; flourishing.
When I worked on her farm ten years ago there was still a thriving goat herd, but she’s been unable to keep it up on her own.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of thriving
Explanation
Something that's thriving is doing very well. You have a thriving cupcake business if you can hardly bake enough to keep up with your customers' orders. Use the adjective thriving to describe something that's healthy — like your new puppy — or profitable and busy — like your dad's car dealership. A thriving Mexican food truck always has a long line in front of it, and a thriving publisher puts out many popular books. Thriving comes from the verb thrive, and its Old Norse root word, þrifask, which means both "thrive" and "grasp to oneself," from þrifa, "to clutch or grasp."
Vocabulary lists containing thriving
The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind
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State of the Union Address 2016
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Ethan Frome
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The Twin Cities are home to a thriving food scene, welcoming people and no shortage of things to do.
From Salon • Jun. 11, 2026
“We’re definitely having growing pains,” said Jeff Morrow, business manager of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 415, whose members are thriving amid the build-out.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 9, 2026
What’s Next: Kalshi and Polymarket are thriving in states like Texas and California, where traditional sports betting remains illegal, and prediction markets will be the only legal game in town for local bettors.
From Barron's • Jun. 8, 2026
Children - and in this case, young girls - are just learning a way of surviving, maybe even thriving, online?
From BBC • Jun. 6, 2026
The glass factory prospered, and the owner decided to expand the business by moving it to Kraków, a thriving city about three hundred fifty miles southwest of Narewka.
From "The Boy on the Wooden Box" by Leon Leyson
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
